Sunday, May 8, 2016

I've fallen for Noro

I am a recent convert to Noro yarn. I took it to the beach at Galveston State Park with me. If you look very closely you'll see my hubby and two kids out there in the surf.

 



The yarn store where I work has a wall of Noro yarn from Japan. I had stayed away from it until very recently with three main objections:
  1. It feels itchy to me. People tell me "it softens up when you work with it" but I have refused to believe them.
  2. It's pricey and I just can't help being the thrifty Brit. I don't really enjoy spending money.
  3. In my mind it's mainly self-striping yarn and historically I just haven't had good experiences with finding a pattern I like which suits multi colored yarn.

I have a brand new way of building my stash after reading a super article on the Crochet Unites website building a yarn stash on a budget. I go for the bulk buy - purchasing large quantities of just one type of yarn in the same color when on sale. In the past, I have often been one skein short of completing my pattern. How frustrating! 

And last month I found soft Noro yarn Shiraito containing cashmere in large quantities on sale totally overcoming the above objections #1 and #2. I bought all 11 skeins in the same dye lot. I picked two very simple patterns that would work with the stripes. I AM getting better at picking patterns. I found a moss stitch scarf pattern in one of my all time favorite books The Gentle Art of Knitting by Jane Brocket and have just finished a quick and easy traditional granny square crochet blanket. I don't need a pattern for the latter I can practically hook it in my sleep.

I am really loving working with Noro yarn. The colorful stripes are gorgeous. There is aqua and turquoise in there, two colors I am always drawn to. It's extremely soft to work with. I have learned to deal with the thick and thin bits which can split by being very gentle with the yarn. A fellow knitter and Noro lover told me "Don't pull!" I am enjoying the experience immensely and I am a total Noro yarn convert! Yay!

And I just discovered one my Twitter buddies the super talented knitwear designer, tech editor and blogger Kephren Pritchett has a design in the most recent edition of the latest Noro magazine. It's gorgeous!! And it isn't even in self-striping yarn. Check out her Leaf Lace Shrug on Ravelry. Beautiful!!
 
I predict I will be looking out for more Noro very soon.....

6 comments:

kathy b said...

This opens me up to trying some Noro as well. I love the color blends but it has felt scratchy to me in the past

Tamara said...

Excellent Kathy. So funny that you felt the same way as I did! Let me know how you get on!

MaggieBelize said...

I felt the same way as you about Noro, but the colors! So it was a matter of finding the right pattern. I am just now blocking my Urban Geometry vest knitted with Silk Garden. I alternated skeins in the main panels, then used only one skein at a time in the collar & front bands. You can see it on the blocking board, here: http://ravel.me/MaggieBelize/ug

Tamara said...

Oh my goodness Maggie that is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing this!

Unknown said...

Thank you Tamara! I admit I am a big fan of Noro yarn. There really is nothing else like and the color combinations are amazing! I originally made the leaf-lace in self-striping Aya (which is a very soft Noro yarn) and you can see that version here. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Kephren/17-leaf-lace-shrug Depending on the pattern you can get stripes, color blocks, or even gradient effects. It really is fun yarn to knit or crochet with. I'm glad you gave it a try!

Tamara said...

Wow Kephren the self-striping version of your shrug does look gorgeous too! I'm just going to have to buy the magazine and make it with my final three skeins!!

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